E-mail updates from Drew McIlreavy and Tom Hogge (3-12-03)
Much like the previous days, day four began early on Tuesday morning. By 8:15 a.m. the group pulled into the parking lot across from KMTN 96.9, a popular Jackson radio station. We would be on-air, our voices broadcast across Wyoming.
Bachenheimer once again used his network of Jackson residents to contact friend Mark Fishman, deejay at KMTN, and rally for some air-time. Huddled into one of the radio station's small studios, we were grateful.
Fishman, affectionately known simply as "Fish," graciously accepted us, and the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts we brought, into the studio for a chance to announce our presence to the Jackson community and to bolster support for similar service in the area.
Often lost in the bustle of the tourist trade are the residents of Jackson and surrounding areas, residents who lead lives not dissimilar from those of many other citizens of this nation. Jackson teems with tourists who often forget this fact.
That a small group from a small Virginia college would travel to Jackson in order to contribute to that community highlights the need for such service in this town, as well as in many others.
And local businesses have already done their part to contribute to this mission. Mary Leversee at Rendezvous Mountain Rentals (www.rmrentals.com) was kind enough to find housing for the group in a condominium at the base of the mountain, a less than ten-minute walk from the base lifts. Anna Olsen, of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (www.jacksonhole.com), helped ensure that our time away from RTM would be spent skiing a mountain unlike anything most people have skied; she reserved a discount price on our lift tickets.
Day Five begins early. Again. Several from the group head out to try to get on the first tram to the top so we can make fresh tracks on a mountainside groomed nightly by several "snow-cats".
Because the mountain is so immense, lighting trails for night-skiing would be expensive. Because the terrain is so variable, it would also be impractical. This means the lifts and slopes close by 4:00 p.m. each day so that the snow-cat operators can begin their lonely and treacherous task of grooming marked trails.
Wednesday afternoon will see the group head to RTM for its third afternoon session of work and its second meal with the staff and residents.
Diary from Wyoming
Day 1 (3-9-03)
Day 2 (3-10-03)
Day 3 (3-11-03)
Day 4 (3-12-03)
Day 5 (3-13-03)
Day 6 (3-14-03)
Final Report (3-26-03)
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